Teaching German

Business

Royal Bank of Scotland eyes job cull

Media reports have claimed the Royal Bank of Scotland plans to axe thousands of jobs as it drastically scales back its investment banking business. The lender is still reeling from the aftermath of the financial crisis.

The UK's state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland could axe as many as 14,000 jobs by 2019 amid a huge restructuring effort, the Financial Times reported in its Wednesday edition.

The newspaper said the lender could shed as much as 80 percent of its investment banking division, where a total of 18,000 people are employed right now.

The Edinburgh-based bank had already announced last week that it would close down investment banking in 25 nations in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, while western European countries such as Germany would not be affected.

Fighting an uphill battle

RBS spokespersons declined to comment on the report on likely job losses, but had earlier agreed the restructuring process would be thorough and far-reaching.